Israel/AIPAC/Hanan Piker Mania in US Elex & politics

• Gimenez (R-FL) 9/17/26: X-post – “In the US Congress, we welcome the strong trilateral US-Israel-Morocco partnership as we work together to increase trade & mutual defense. President Trump’s landmark Abraham Accords changed the region & we hope others soon follow Morocco’s incredible example!”
• Gimenez (R-FL) 9/16/26: X-post – “The Jewish State of #Israel is America’s closest ally on the planet & I look forward to continuing working closely together with our friends to protect our countries from those who seek to destroy us.”
• Torres (D-NY) 9/16/26: X-post – “It is one thing to merely see oneself as a victim. It is another to objectively be a victim. Israelis were objectively victims of October 7th—the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust. Any suggestion to the contrary is anti-Israel activism camouflaged as journalism.” With screenshot of paragraph from New York Times article [that has since been amended by the NYT].
• Mace (R-SC) 9/16/26: X-post – “There is ZERO evidence of genocide in Gaza.” Accompanied by Bill Maher video clip
• Massie (R-KY) 9/14/26: X-post – “This is not AI, it’s real. She’s spent hundreds of millions to influence elections in America for the benefit of Israel. And it worked… we’re fighting the war in Iran for them and propping up Netanyahu, while turning a blind eye to the atrocities in Gaza.” With video clip of Miriam Adelson at an IAC conference and pic of Adelson being kissed by Trump.

Yet MORE US Bombs (paid for by US taxpayers) for Israel

• Senate Foreign Relations Committee Democrats 9/17/26: X-post w/ video clip – “’All of us share concern about what Israel is doing in Gaza, bombing in places like Syria, and what that means for any peaceful solution in the Middle East. Netanyahu needs to hear from America that we don’t like what he’s doing.’ – @SenatorShaheen”
• Deluzio (D-PA) 9/17/26: X-post – “Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government has already shown reckless disregard for American law, and @RepGregoryMeeks is right to place a hold on this $2.8 billion weapons sale (that includes things like 2000-pound bombs).“
• Tlaib (D-MI) 9/17/26: X-post – “As Israel’s defense minister pledges to ‘finish the job’ of genocide in Gaza, the Trump admin is sending the apartheid regime $2.8 billion of bombs, using your tax dollars. That’s 40,000 bombs, weighing 2,000 pounds each. The Senate must act to block this sale immediately.”
• Welch (D-VT) 9/16/26: X-post – “Just a few days ago, a clearly marked Doctors Without Borders bus was struck by an Israeli military airstrike. Now, President Trump has approved sending 40,000 one-ton bombs to Prime Minister Netanyahu. The U.S. can’t continue to supply weapons being used to commit war crimes.“
• Sanders (I-VT) 9/16/26: X-post – “The American people are sick and tired of funding Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Now Trump is doubling down and using OUR taxpayer dollars to give the extremist Netanyahu government $2.8 billion in bombs. Not acceptable. Congress must reject these agreements.”
• Jayapal (D-WA) 9/16/26: X-post w/ video clip – “Thank you to everyone who is standing up and calling out Trump’s effort to send $2.8 billion of arms to the Israeli government, including Ranking Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee Gregory Meeks. We must protect civilian lives.”
• Khanna (D-CA) 9/16/26: X-post w/ video clip – “I am outraged that our government is giving Israel nearly $3 billion in bombs to kill Palestinian children. We need to put the needs of working families and Americans first.”
• Khanna (D-CA) 9/16/26: X-post – “No war in Iran | No aid to Israel | Abolish ICE | Human control over AI | Tax the billionaires | Medicare for All | Economic Patriotism | America’s Next New Deal”
• Markey (D-MA) 9/16/26: X-post – “The United States must not send 40,000 taxpayer-funded bombs to Netanyahu for his war on Gaza and Lebanon and on Iran. We must block the sale of these weapons now. #BlockTheBombs”
• Smith (D-MN) 9/16/26: X-post – “The United States has no business sending Netanyahu billions of dollars’ worth of bombs after his record of indiscriminate violence against Palestinian civilians, including children.”
• McCollum (D-MN) 9/16/26: X-post – “Congress must immediately block Trump’s $2.8 billion weapons sale to Israel. The idea that we would provide Israel with weapons, including 40,000 one ton bombs, given the destruction in Gaza is outrageous. The Block the Bombs Act would end these types of sales to Israel and Congress should pass it.”
• Meeks (D-NY) 9/16/26: Meeks Places Hold on Trump Administration’s $2.8 Billion Bomb Sale to Israel
• Khanna (D-CA) 9/15/26: X-post w/ video clip – “While the majority of Americans, including many young Republicans, demand an end to aid to Israel, the Trump Administration is sending the Israeli military whatever it wants. This is why so many Americans believe our political and economic system is broken.”
• Khanna (D-CA) 9/15/26: X-post w/ video clip – “While the majority of Americans, including many young Republicans, demand an end to aid to Israel, the Trump Administration is sending the Israeli military whatever it wants.This is why so many Americans believe our political and economic system is broken.”
• Jayapal (D-WA) 9/15/26: X-post – “This is beyond unacceptable and I am furious at this news. US weapons are being used to perpetrate a genocide. This cannot continue in our name and I will be fighting in Congress to block this sale and all future weapons sales as long as the Israeli government continues to violate international humanitarian law.”
• Ramirez (D-IL) 9/15/26: X-post – “Absolutely not! The genocide has not ended. And U.S. made and supplied bombs continue to kill children in Palestine. Not one more dollar, not one more excuse, not one more bomb! Let’s pass my Block the Bombs Act NOW.”
• Ramirez (D-IL) 9/15/26: X-post – “The genocide has not ended! And it won’t end until Congress reclaims its power and stops arming the Israeli government. We must pass my Block the Bombs Act!”

NO BOYCOTTING ISRAEL OVER SETTLEMENTS OR ANYTHING ELSE!

• Fine (R-FL) 9/15/26: X-post w/ video clip – “The UK spent years demanding Israel be carved up. Now they’re talking about breaking up their own country. I say: From the river to the sea, let Scotland, Wales, and Ireland be free! If that logic is good enough for the Jewish state, it’s good enough for them.”
• Fine (R-FL) 9/15/26: X-post w/ video clip – “The UK government wants to break Israel in two and hand half of it to Muslim terrorists. Apply that same logic to the United Kingdom and they lose their minds. I’m not trolling, I’m simply forcing them to confront their own stupidity.”
• Fine (R-FL) 9/13/26: X-post w/ video clip – “This is not about Palestinians — this is Jew-hatred, and a play for the Muslim voters Britain imported. In 2018 I passed a Florida bill: if you boycott Israel, we boycott you. I hope this fetish for Muslim terror was worth putting their economy at risk.”
• Fine (R-FL) 9/13/26: X-post w/ video clip – “British diplomats are already admitting this is a stunt. Once you let in people that do not share your values, and want Israel wiped off the map, you do not get a two-state solution. You get a one-state solution: no Israel. They are not assimilating — they are taking over and @UKLabour is catering to it. It must stop NOW.”

Concern for Palestinian Lives/Rights

• Van Hollen (D-MD) 9/17/26: X-post – “Another American citizen wrongfully detained by the Israeli govt.  Naqaa Hamed, an American journalist, was stopped by the IDF, interrogated about her work, & now faces bogus espionage allegations.   The Israeli govt should immediately release Naqaa, NOW.”
• Panetta (D-CA) 9/16/26: X-post – “I will continue to hold the Netanyahu Administration accountable when it comes to the many issues in the West Bank that are deadly, dangerous, and damaging to long-term peace and security of the region. One of those issues is Israel’s continued withholding of tax revenues owed to the Palestinian Authority which deepens the financial crisis in the West Bank and creates an opening for Hamas and other extremists. That’s why I joined a bipartisan group urging the Netanyahu Administration to keep those revenues flowing to legitimate Palestinian institutions while pressing the Palestinian Authority to implement meaningful reforms and anti-corruption measures. Although it has many shortcomings, a functioning and accountable Palestinian Authority remains a current viable governing alternative to Hamas and is essential to Israel’s security, the well-being of Palestinians, and regional stability.”
• Khanna (D-CA) 9/15/26: X-post – “I had a great meeting with UNRWA Commissioner-General Christian Saunders to discuss what’s needed to rebuild Gaza and the West Bank and secure a lasting peace. UNRWA’s 11,000 staff in Gaza will be critical to the recovery and rebuilding ahead.”
• Tlaib (D-MI) 9/13/26: X-post – “The genocide is still happening. There was never a ceasefire. Children are being killed with American made bombs, and those that live are traumatized forever. The U.S. government must end its complicity in these atrocious acts of ethnic cleansing.”
• Green (D-TX) 9/13/26: ICYMI: The Haaretz article below, titled “Netanyahu Led Israel ‘Blindly to Disaster,’ Eisenkot Says After Haaretz Exposé on UAE Warning Before Oct. 7.”

Free Speech/Right to Protest/Targeting Academia/MACKLEMORE

• Gottheimer (D-NJ) 9/15/26: X-post – “Macklemore didn’t get censored — he got dropped. Actions have consequences. A record of antisemitism and disinformation from the stage made him a liability, and the venues made the right call.”
• Tlaib (D-MN) 9/15/26: X-post – “The Trump administration is trying to deport Dr. Badar Khan Suri, a beloved teacher and father, for speaking out for justice and against the genocide in Palestine. This is a clear assault on our First Amendment rights. Justice for Badar Khan Suri. Our voices cannot be silenced.”
• Cuellar (D-TX) 9/14/26: X-post – “Hasan Piker’s scheduled appearance at the University of Texas is deeply concerning. Free speech allows difficult and controversial views, but it does not require anyone to stay silent when someone has a history of hateful comments about Jewish Americans, 9/11, and Hamas terrorism. Jewish students at UT should not be made to feel targeted or unsafe on their own campus. UT should be a place for debate, learning, and respect, not antisemitism or rhetoric that excuses terrorism. Leaders in both parties should be clear: antisemitism and hate must be condemned wherever they appear.”
• Khanna (D-CA) 9/14/26: X-post – “Admire your courage @macklemore”
• Omar (D-MN) 9/14/26: X-post – “Thank you @macklemore for using your platform and continuing to speak out against the genocide. None of us are free until all of us are free”
• Jayapal (D-WA) 9/14/26: X-post – “It’s so incredibly disappointing that Macklemore, my constituent, was removed from Ed Sheeran’s tour because of his comments in support of the Palestinian people. We should all be outraged that powerful people are more upset about what an artist says than the displacement, starvation, and killing of innocent Palestinian children and families. Thank you, Macklemore, for speaking up. This is a moment for us to come together, find our moral conscience as a nation, and end this genocide.”

Three Cheers for the Abraham Accords!

• Lawler (R-NY) 9/15/26: X-post – “Six years ago today, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain made history by signing the Abraham Accords at the White House and taking a major step toward peace and partnership in the Middle East. As Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa, I’m proud to be a strong advocate for strengthening and expanding the Abraham Accords. I authored legislation creating a Special Presidential Envoy for the Accords, which was signed into law. I will continue working to deepen the security, economic, and diplomatic partnerships the Abraham Accords made possible. We must continue building on that progress and working toward a safer, more secure, and more prosperous Middle East.”
• McCormick (R-PA) 9/15/26: X-post – “Six years ago today, @POTUS brought Israel, the UAE, and Bahrain together to sign the Abraham Accords. It was a historic breakthrough that proved bold American leadership can change the Middle East and advance the cause of peace.”

Islamophobia

• Roy (R-TX) 9/16/26: X-post w/ video clip – “Congress must PAUSE all immigration until we: -Reverse Plyler v. Doe -Terminate automatic citizenship -End chain migration and the Diversity Visa Program -Prohibit the entry of Sharia law adherents and Chinese communists -Bar illegals from accessing welfare benefits like SNAP, Medicaid, Medicare, etc… -Overhaul the H-1B visa”
• Norman (R-SC) 9/15/26: X-post – “An ideology bent on destroying America will never assimilate into it. Sharia Law has no place in America.”
• Self (R-TX) 9/15/26: X-post – “Thank you, President @realDonaldTrump, for recognizing the threat that Sharia poses to the United States. Congress must ban Sharia!”
• Tenney (R-NY) 9/15/26: X-post – “Sharia law is incompatible with the United States. Period. We will NOT stand by while our values, rights, and freedoms are pushed aside for a religious legal system that seeks to undermine everything we stand for.”
• Clyde (R-GA) 9/15/26: X-post – “Sharia Law seeks to conquer and destroy Western civilization, not assimilate into it. This radical ideology has no place in America.”
• Luna (R-FL) 9/15/26: X-post – “Sharia Law is INCOMPATIBLE with the U.S. Constitution.”
• Self (R-TX) 9/14/26: X-post – “UPDATE: The Sharia-Free America Caucus welcomes @RepBrianJack! With almost 70 Members of Congress from 25 states, our movement will only continue to grow as more Americans recognize the dangers of Sharia law.
• Self (R-TX) 9/14/26: X-post – “This ideology is a perversion of the oath to uphold the Constitution and a direct affront to American political and cultural institutions. Sharia law and political Islam have absolutely no place in America.”
• Fine (R-FL) 9/14/26: X-post w/ video clip – “Mainstream Islam is not asking to live beside us. It says that for them to practice their faith, you have to practice it too, or at least submit to it. That is not compatible with the First Amendment — period.”
• Mace (R-SC) 9/12/26: X-post – “Sharia law has NO place in America. We are cosponsors of the Preserving a Sharia-Free America Act, legislation which denies visas, entry, and immigration benefits to any alien who adheres to Sharia law. It also revokes immigration benefits and removes Sharia adherents already here. America was built on the Constitution. Not foreign laws undermining it.”
• Miller (R-IL) 9/12/26: X-post – “An ideology determined to destroy America will never assimilate into it. Islamism demands power and control. Anyone who comes here seeking to overthrow our Constitution and impose Sharia law has no place in this country.  DENATURALIZE & DEPORT.”

Yemen & Saudi Arabia

• Garamendi (D-CA) 9/17/26: X-post – “Trump’s Saudi nuclear deal skips decades of safeguards designed to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons. @RepGregoryMeeks, @RepDonBeyer, and @BradSherman are fighting to stop this reckless deal and prevent a nuclear arms race in the Middle East.”
• Murphy (D-CT) 9/16/26: X-thread – “A new disaster is unfolding – thanks to Trump’s war with Iran. The Houthis, Iran’s ally in Yemen, are attacking Saudi Arabia and blocking shipments in the Red Sea, sending oil and gas prices even higher…Saudi Arabia and the Houthis were in a truce for four years. Everyone knew that truce would collapse if Trump attacked Iran. But Trump didn’t care. Now the war is restarting. Sure, the Houthis have their own agenda, but it clearly aligns with Iran’s goals…Over the last week, the Houthis have launched attacks on Saudi oil facilities and taken control of critical territory near the Red Sea coast to block Saudi oil exports. The war is spiralling out of control – thousands are feeling their homes…The Houthis have learned from Iran’s success agaisnt Trump. Iran shut down the Strait of Hormuz as leverage. Now the Houthis are trying to close the Bab el Mandeb Strait, and promising to attack more oil infrastructure if anyone tries to stop them…The Saudis were restrained at first. But they can’t hold back for long. The pace of their strikes in Yemen have quickened in the last few days. If another full blown war breaks out, and both the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea are closed, gas prices will hit $6 a gallon…This is all Trump’s disaster. Every terrible thing that has happend in the last 7 months – including this new Saudi-Yemen war – was forseeable. And it’s ordinary Americans who are paying the price for Trump’s growing gross incompetence.” With links to articles: Saudi strikes and Houthi attacks widen Middle East war (Reuters 9/15/26); Why Yemen Is Spiraling Back Into War (New York Times 9/10/26); Saudi Oil Exports Plunge as Spread of War Shuts Off Shipping Routes (New York Times 9/9/26); Explainer: Why is the Bab el-Mandeb Strait so important? (Reuters 9/10/26); The Oil Market Is Flashing New Warning Signs for the Economy (Wall Street Journal 9/10/26)
• Wilson (R-SC) 9/15/26: X-post – “The Iranian puppet foreign Houthis occupying Yemen now attack the Muslim holy sites of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. We stand with our partners in Saudi Arabia against the hateful Houthi aggression. If the Mecca Alliance means anything then Turkiye and Pakistan must work with Saudi Arabia to destroy the foreign Houthi terrorists and liberate Yemen from Iran.”
• Ramirez (D-IL) 9/14/26: X-post – “Years of U.S. strikes in Yemen have killed at least 213 civilians and hundred others have lost their farms, shops, factories and small businesses. From Cuba to Yemen, we continue to witness the catastrophe of U.S. complicity in destruction, displacement, and death unfold. We must turn to a new page in U.S. policy—one that honors our shared humanity. That starts by passing my Renewed Mandate for Human Rights resolution and commit to the creation of a Human Rights Commission in our country.”
• Patronis (R-FL) 9/14/26: X-post – “Congratulations, @RepWPH, on your appointment as U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia.” [NOTE: The President does not “appoint” ambassadors, he NOMINATES ambassadors — and the Senate then gets it say via the confirmation process]

Other stuff

• Tlaib (D-MI) 9/16/26: X-post – “Today, we remember the thousands of Palestinian refugees and Lebanese killed in the Israeli-backed Sabra and Shatila massacre in Beirut. 44 years later, Israel continues to commit genocide in Palestine and Lebanon, armed and supported by our government. This ongoing Nakba did not begin with Netanyahu, and it will not stop until we end U.S. support for this genocidal apartheid regime.”
• Malliotakis (R-NY) 9/16/26: X-post – “Turkey is a NATO ally on paper but we are concerned about Turkey’s close relationship with Russia and Iran, about its harboring of Hamas leadership, about Erdogan’s calls for the destruction of Israel and illegal occupation of Cyprus military flights above Greek islands.” Linked to her article in the Greek media outlet ekathimerini, Turkey is often ‘an ally on paper’

5. Selected Media